X
by ZAFO
Summary: Naruto begins to remember a past life from a past reality, one in which he was actually a...king? It's not as glamorous as it sounds.
1. Jet

**X**

By ZAFO

–

**A/N:** What can I say? I was inspired… anyway, this little fic will be written in short spurts and starts during the first Chuunin exams. Hope you enjoy! :)

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><p><strong>[1].<strong>

An ugly giggle-snort erupted from Naruto before he swatted the rock Sakura had thrown at him in anger, and for a moment, Sasuke could have sworn that one of those cerulean blue eyes was bulging out a little.

Sasuke's own eyes widened as the rock exploded upon hitting his teammate's open palm. What kind of technique was that? Had the dobe been holding out on them this entire time?

…nah.

Nonetheless, Sakura began coughing from the subsequent dust cloud.

"_Naruto!"_ she hacked, "You jerk!"

Naruto's response was bizarre; this time a light cackle mixed in with the same horrible snort. Then, as quickly as he seemed to have lost it, Naruto stopped laughing, looking confused and out-of-place as he blinked suddenly, multiple times.

"Huh?"

"…what was that?" Sasuke asked blandly, as Sakura straightened herself up and put her hand on her hips.

"Yeah Naruto, what_ was_ that?" the pinkette demanded.

"I don't know." said Naruto, uncharacteristically troubled.

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><p>–<p>

Sabaku no Gaara watched the trio of leaf genin from afar, frowning as he focused particularly on one Naruto Uzumaki. When he had first met Team 7 earlier only the Uchiha had seemed worthy of his interest, but this time _Naruto_ was the one he wanted to face, and he couldn't logically place why.

The boy was loud, stupid, and judging from the cringe-worthy style of laughter, perhaps a bit off his rocker–not that he himself could judge. And yet…

_Hate._

So much hate.

(Hazy memories of a burning village not his own, frantic attempts at writing to the king of…Oma…shu…to come aid the survivors, waiting in tears, watching food rations dry up…)

Shukaku screamed in the background and abruptly dispelled these flitting visions.

Gaara was left only with the lingering hate and resentment, and the familiar feeling that he could depend on no one.

Except…

(Another image flashed across his mindscape, of a boy and a girl. Was the second one even a girl? Both were dressed in ragtag peasant armor and relatively plain. The boy was tall, forgettable, and wore a tattered straw rice hat. The girl was short, her hair was matted, and she had two red lines tattooed on each cheek.)

His demon's murderous rants and ravings dispelled the image once again, and Gaara roughly clutched his head in pain as the vibrations echoed throughout his psyche.

Temari and Kankuro glanced over from the corner of their eyes and gulped. Their little brother was like a ticking time bomb.

If only Naruto knew that too.

[to be continued]

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><p>–<p>

**A/N:** Please review?


	2. there and back again

**X**

by ZAFO

–

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><p><strong>[2.]<strong>

As the giant, buoyant snake tongue grabbed him off the ground, for a moment, the animal flesh surrounding his abdomen didn't feel slimy and cold–but furry and warm.

Naruto knew he shouldn't have felt happy in this sort of situation, _at all,_ but a tiny sliver of the emotion made its way into his heart nonetheless as his 'imagination' ran wild and enveloped him whole. In a dimmed and somewhat spotty vision, he saw the terrifyingly affectionate face of a gorilla/goat/rabbit/monster/thing leaning closer…

"_Flopsy."_ he choked.

…and then the monster gave him a lick, and Naruto snapped back to the real world, realizing again in exactly the kind of situation he was in.

"NO!" he snarled, violently flailing his arms on instinct.

Slitted red eyes flashed, and an enormous curtain of earth shot up in the space between the snake's form, its outstretched tongue, and his own suspended body. The snake's tongue snapped gruesomely at the sudden, heavy vertical pressure, and Naruto went flying over Sasuke's head.

'_The boy is capable of sealless jutsu?!'_ thought Orochimaru, in shock, as his reptilian summon recoiled.

Said boy landed roughly onto the forest floor, covered in pungent blood. In response, Orochimaru immediately leaped off his now down-for-the-count summon and made a beeline–kunai in hand–for Naruto's battered body.

'_When his emotions are heightened, it seems as though the power of the nine-tails flows throughout his body.'_ The sannin narrowed his eyes_. 'This boy is a wildcard… one that cannot be allowed to interfere with my plans.'_

Sasuke didn't miss the deadly expression that had graced the "grass nin's" face.

'_He's going to kill Naruto!'_ Sasuke thought, panicked_. 'Naruto….NARUTO!'_

Emotions were high, it was now or never, and someone–either him or the dobe _–_was going to die. Sakura was screaming in the background. There was no one to help them. He was scared, who wouldn't be?

But he was strong. He had to be strong. He was an Uchiha, the very last one with any semblance of honor, and **DAMMIT**–if he was going to die, then he might as well die honorably! Even the dead-last was far from a coward.

'_NO!'_ he thought similarly, with ferocious conviction, before heat surged to the soles of his feet.

By now Sasuke was moving merely on instinct; barely noticing when flames had developed under him and propelled his speed towards the enemy. The resulting sound was loud and burning, and Orochimaru looked back, caught off guard by the sudden, intense volume.

He saw coal-black eyes burning with desperation, and a young,_ literally_ flaming fist rising up to greet him.

'_He isn't even using the sharingan.'_ he thought.

Naruto scrambled to pick himself up as Orochimaru's face melted off. He also squawked when he saw the disguised saanin's body completely swathed in fire–along with the Earth scroll that they needed to pass.

"TEME!" he screeched impulsively. "THAT WAS OUR SCROLL!"

"WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE DIED?!" Sasuke screamed back.

Sakura whimpered and covered her face, fighting the urge to fall to her knees. How typical of her bull-headed teammates to get so worked up with _each other,_ that they didn't notice the advanced killer intent leaking onto the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the "grass-nin" was like a nightmare come true. He stood still as a phantom as the flames engulfed him further, and his pale skin blackened and peeled away grotesquely. A single, unscathed black eye gazed out at them.

"Wh-who are you…?" she whispered.

"My name is Orochimaru." he answered. "And I'm tired of wasting time. _Sasuke-kun…"_ he purred, tilting his glance towards the Uchiha, "Have you activated your sharingan yet?"

"That's none of your business!" the prodigy snapped angrily.

Orochimaru (mistakenly) took that answer– along with the defensive hostility in Sasuke's eyes– as a resounding _no._ He frowned.

That wouldn't do.

If the younger Uchiha hadn't activated his sharingan yet, then there was no way he was strong enough to survive the curse seal. It would have to wait.

"Are you two really brothers?" he drawled. "You don't even come close to matching Itachi-san yet. But I can fix that." Ignoring Sasuke's rapidly paling countenance, Orochimaru continued. "You're full of surprises– you and that fox boy– but for now, you're both pathetic. If you want to see me again, survive this forest and pass the exam. I'll be waiting."

With that, still on fire, Orochimaru wove his fingers into the snake seal.

Sasuke and Naruto didn't even have the chance to scream as the sannin's injured serpent rose behind them and slammed its tail against their bodies. There was a sickening two-fold crack as they impacted first the summon, then the tree in which the reptile had swept them against.

Sakura screamed and screamed until her voice went hoarse. The boys fell to the ground with a _thud_ as the snake's tail receded. Limp, they were so _limp–_

"Sasuke will seek me… to obtain power… don't get in his way, little girl."

Those were Orochimaru's final words to Team Seven as he calmly shed his false skin and made his exit. The pile of burning flesh remained, and Sakura felt the world spin as she realized that she was completely, utterly alone now.

–

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><p><strong>[3.]<strong>

One hour and thirty seven minutes into the exam, the sand siblings walk completely unscathed into the forest tower. After opening the Heaven and Earth scrolls and meeting with the chuunin instructor who pops out, they discover that they still must wait a full five days for the other survivors in order for the next phase of the exam to begin.

Deeming his part of the ordeal to be over and done with for the moment, Gaara wanders off on his own, rejecting the chuunin's offer for them to stay in the tower until the deadline was up. Concerningly, he heads back into the deadly woodlands.

When Kankuro hesitantly asks him why, Gaara merely looks away at the exit.

"I want to be in the forest." he says.

They don't question him after that, and the chuunin lets him leave, chuckling that a rogue Gaara would surely help weed out the straggling genin.

Secretly relieved that they wouldn't have to spend the next five days with their murderous little brother, Temari and Kankuro head deeper into the tower, hoping to meet Baki along the way.

"You know," starts Temari. "If we didn't have Gaara, then this wouldn't have been so easy."

"He's a thug." Kankuro says firmly.

The hallway lights flicker as the conversation falters.

"He's sick." Temari replies softly.

"Yeah, he is." snorts the puppet-user, though they both know that that's not what Temari had meant.

–

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><p><strong>[4.]<strong>

Ino watched in shock as Sakura hacked off her hair. As the pink locks fell to the ground, Ino saw them morph into brown.

The blonde could practically smell her ex-best friend's determination, her desperation. She too had felt it herself once… When?

(When…when being part of a matched set had become too suffocating. When she needed to run away from home and find a new one. When…)

Sharp sounds of impact interrupted these brief thoughts, and Ino snapped out of her trance to the sight of Sakura's head being mercilessly beat on by the Sound nin. Distant memories–this time her own–flooded her mind.

Sakura Haruno had once been precious to her. They had once been best friends, and now they were bitter rivals. And for what? For a boy? Even though the pinkette was the one who had relinquished their bond first, Ino couldn't believe that she had even let Sakura do it. The Yamanaka heiress had always told herself that she was not the type to turn her back on her friends.

Right?

_Right?_

(An armor-clad girl fell to the ground. The knife-wielding one behind her blinked in disbelief.)

Ino abruptly shook her head.

"Guys, we have to help her!" she hissed.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Choji.

"Troublesome." muttered Shikamaru.

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**[5.]**

"Tch, they keep coming out like cockroaches!" Zaku snarled.

Neji stood on his branch, undeterred.

"That knocked-out freak right there is from our team." he said, motioning at an unconscious Lee. The he looked up, veins bulging fearsomely around his pupil-less eyes. _"And you're going to pay for that!"_

Dosu felt himself shiver–the Hyuuga's killer intent was intense–but he was on a mission from Orochimaru. Kin was now useless, and it wouldn't help if Zaku flew into a panic. As team leader, he needed to make sure his team came through with their goal.

So Dosu put up his best show of bravado, and (foolishly) taunted the new Konoha nin.

"If you're so upset about it, then stop acting so cool and come down here! I'll kill you if you underestimate me!"

With his byakugan activated, however, Neji saw a blue-clad figure stirring from Sakura's side.

"…no." he smiled, shutting down his bloodline. "It seems that won't be necessary."

"SASUKE-KUN! You're awake!" Sakura shouted, tearing up from relief.

Sasuke Uchiha steadied himself, taking one quietly furious look at his bloodied teammate before asking lowly:

"Sakura… who did that to you?"

"We did it!" Zaku answered easily.

Sasuke took a step forward. Sakura caught his ankle, panicked at the thought of almost losing him again.

"Sasuke-kun, wait. Y-you're not fully healed yet! I can't let you fight!"

"Let go." he said, almost gently. "I have a new power flowing through me. This _fire_ is something that help me get stronger and kill _that man._ I won't lose–I say that on my honor."

Sakura let go.

Sasuke charged at Zaku first, aiming a strong fist that stopped just centimeters away from the boy's face.

…instead of a burst of flame, however, all that came out was a smoky _poot._

Naruto would have laughed himself silly had he been awake to hear it.

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><p>–<p>

It is at Tenten's urging that Neji swoops down and saves the day. First he saves Sasuke from Zaku's _Ultimate Zankuuha_ jutsu, then (after dropping the avenger into Sakura's lap like a sack of potatoes) he breaks the sound-nin's arms.

Dosu recedes into the forest with his injured teammates draped over each shoulder.

Sasuke sulks as Team 8 rightfully takes their reward.

…Team 7 needed to find both a Heaven _and_ an Earth scroll now, stat.

–

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><p><strong>AN:** hehehe, lots of small changes in the exam to play with now! how do you guys like it so far? please review! :)


	3. bringing out the blue

**X**

By ZAFO

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><p>–<p>

**[6.]**

Gaara had always liked high places. Back in Suna, he used to sit on the rooftop of his apartment every night and stare either into the village or up at the stars. In the rare moments of relative peace in which Shukaku's screams dimmed down into chant-like mutterings, Gaara felt a sort of longing when he was alone. Longing for _what,_ he didn't know, until now.

Here, in Konoha, the Forest of Death somehow just felt… right.

Maybe it was the shadows. Maybe it was the trees. Maybe it was the soft chirping of birds. Maybe it was the fact that they just didn't have this kind of scenery back in Suna. Whatever the case, 'Mother' had been completely silent upon first setting foot in the woodlands–and this was the reason why he had wanted to return. Entry into that tower meant losing this coveted silence, and if he didn't have to do so for another few days then he wasn't going to.

Now that he was back in the forest for a second time, however, a wholly different voice began to plague him.

"_(…)"_

It wasn't Shukaku.

It was young and female and completely unfamiliar. Gaara wondered if perhaps one of the faceless kunoichi he had killed in Sunagakure were haunting him. If that was the case, the redhead found himself thankful that the voice was so muddled.

"_(…)"_

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**[7.]**

It had been one full day since their encounter with Orochimaru and the Sound nin and Sasuke, at least, had recovered enough to be effectively mobile. After securing a meager lunch of roots and berries, Sakura sat at their campsite with a still-unconscious Naruto laid out carefully by her side. She watched her long-time crush with growing concern.

Sasuke had become obsessed with trying to recreate the flaming fist that had once melted off Orochimaru's face, currently going through yet another series of kata, focusing hard on his chakra pathways…

_Poot._

The only result he ever got was a small, smoky fart sound.

Sakura clapped from the sidelines.

"What was that?!" the Uchiha snarled, in frustration. "That was the worst sealless jutsu I've ever seen!"

His teammate twirled her hair shyly.

"That one felt kind of warm." she said hesitantly.

"Don't patronize me!" he scowled, before attempting to punch fire again.

_Poot._

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><p>–<p>

**[8.]**

Far away, Avatar Korra visits the (once) Great Uniter in her suspended jail cell five years after her defeat. The walkway beneath her sways, while Kuvira sits inside her wooden cage with undying arrogance.

Korra clenches her fists.

"Prince Wu is in a coma." she says. "The vines in Republic City are kidnapping people again, and the rebels are getting out of control. Now they use guns and cannons that shoot condensed spirit energy _just like_ the technology you stole from Varrick."

Kuvira smirks, then brushes a loose strand of ink-black hair from her face.

"I actually cared about my people." says Kuvira. "I wasn't lying when I said my goals were about equality. I took the Earth Empire to the forefront of the world stage, and now its loyal citizens are avenging my wrongful incarceration."

"There_ is_ no Earth Empire any longer."

"Not to you. But then again, you're an outsider. How could you understand?"

"This isn't right."

"This isn't wrong, but we can argue about that all day. You came here for something, Avatar. What is it?"

The watertribe woman narrows her aquiline blue eyes.

"_Where is Baatar Jr.?"_

Kuvira merely laughs; the harsh, mocking sound echoes throughout the underground cavern.

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**[9.]**

On the third official day of the Chuunin exams, the rising sun bathed the Forbidden Forest in an nostalgic array of red, orange, and brown. With this, the unknown voice in Gaara's head increased in volume.

"_Why (…)? I can't…"_

Gaara gave a small grunt, leaning against the trunk of the tree he was perched in, and touched his temple. Suddenly, an image flickered into clarity; the owner of the voice.

It was a dark-skinned girl with teary blue eyes, and chocolate brown hair looped into a long braid down her back.

"_All those people… (…), you monster! _

Gaara felt a pang of regret, then anger. The girl continued,

"_Why (…)? I can't believe I (…)! You lied to me! You're sick and I (..)!"_

Gaara growled as he felt a cold chill rack his body.

Yes, it was definitely a ghost. But the girl looked like a foreigner… when had he ever killed a foreigner prior to the Chuunin exams? Even during the exam, he couldn't remember killing a woman.

"_(…), you MONSTER!"_

"Yes." He found himself answering. He _was_ a monster. But what did he care of the opinions of a dead woman? What did she know?

The jinchuuriki felt himself filling with rage–this time his own, not Mother's–and he snarled with contempt as he leapt off the branch and onto another, making a violent journey through the canopies.

Sabaku no Gaara fought only for himself and lived only while loving himself. All others in the world existed solely to validate his own life. His only reason for being in this dirty, stinking world was to kill them, because he was a monster. Everyone was against him. There was no one he could trust. He needed to kill someone again.

He needed to kill…

He _wanted _to kill…

For some reason, the first face that came to mind was Naruto's.

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><p>–<p>

**[10.]**

Darkness descended, and Naruto remained unconscious. There was something wrong–this was serious. Naruto never took this long to heal.

Sakura fretted over him still, wiping with his forehead with a wet cloth she had torn from her dress. Sasuke fretted over them both, twirling a kunai in case of attack with tired paranoia.

"C'mon dobe," he muttered. _"Wake up…"_

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><p>–<p>

**[11.]**

Naruto is lost, utterly lost.

He doesn't know how long it's been since he's woken up. The sky above him runs dark, and there are no stars in sight to guide his way back. Gloomy foliage surrounds him and animals scatter when they hear the sound of his footsteps. No one has yet ambushed him–but no one seems to be present at all anymore_._ It's as if reality itself has somehow stagnated.

He misses Sakura. He misses Sasuke.

He prays that the Chuunin exams aren't over yet, and he prays that his teammates won't hate him for going AWOL when they needed him most. Never in his life has he been so scared, because there's nothing to fucking _react to _now in the forest–nothing to distract from the gnawing sense of unease and loneliness threatening to overtake his mind.

He wonders if he's stuck in genjutsu. If he is, he thinks bitterly that it's highly effective, because at this rate he'll surely go insane in the barren, endless twilight.

Then, he sees a faint hint of light at the end of the labyrinth. After an indiscernible amount of time trudging through the same sights and sounds over and over, Naruto finally feels a small surge of hope swelling deep in his chest.

He runs toward it–he wants to go home. Maybe it'll lead to home.

The light envelops him whole, and he closes his eyes.

When he opens them again, he thinks his heart has stopped beating when it doesn't.

Spread out before him now is a landscape even more grim than the Forbidden Forest. Here the sky is an odd hue of burnt gold, and there are only half-dead plants scattered across the dry, cracked earth. Thick mist drifts in and out his vision.

"No…" he whispers.

This was a genjutsu. This had to be a genjutsu.

"_This is not a genjutsu."_ says a deep, rumbling voice by his side–the first he's heard in a long time.

Naruto whips his head towards the source of sound, coming face-to-face with a young man dressed in robes of eras long past chained to his wrist. His hair is long and crimson, and eyes are a bright, molten lava.

Naruto gapes at the taller stranger, bewildered, and the stranger looks down at him with a mixture of disdain and exasperation. Then the whisker-like scars on his handsome features grow dark and jagged, and when he opens his mouth, his canine teeth extend and sharpen menacingly.

"Human," he starts, rattling the chains that bind them. "Why have you taken us into the realm of Koh the Face Stealer?"

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**[12.]**

Sasuke felt a familiar presence hovering near them, and it definitely wasn't welcome. He threw his kunai at a nearby canopy, and watched as Gaara of the Desert descended uninjured in a swirl of sand.

Sakura shrieked, shielding Naruto's motionless body with her own.

"Get away!" she cried. "We don't have any more scrolls! Leave us alone!"

"I don't want your scrolls." The Suna nin replied tonelessly. "I want the blonde one."

"_Why?"_ Sasuke hissed.

"I don't like him. I want to kill him." He said simply.

"Then you'll have to get through _me."_ said Sasuke.

Gaara uncorked his gourd.

"Sakura, run." the Uchiha gritted. "Take Naruto with you!"

The pinkette barely managed to get out of the way in time as a tendril of sand shot towards them. Naruto was heavy on her shoulder–how was she supposed to protect them both?

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**A/N:** alert! guys, I've only watched up to episode 10 of Book 4 of _Legend of Korra. _I'm writing this without knowing how it ends, so just to remind you–though I think it's obvious so far–that both _Naruto_ and _ATL:A_ worlds here are super AU. anyway, tell me what you think! ^^


	4. face stealer

**X**

By ZAFO

**A/N:** whooo, just finished the Legend of Korra finale and it was AWESOME! :D so sad that it's over now. anyway, on with the story!

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><p>–<p>

**[13.]**

Kuvira's capture had riled up the Earth Empire more than anyone ever expected, and the region remained in turmoil five years after the fact. Though Prince Wu had told Korra in private that he planned to step down from the throne and abolish the monarchy altogether, he never got the chance to do so before rogue loyalists slipped into his quarters and beat him into a coma.

Mako still blamed himself.

Without Wu or Kuvira there to force a decision, there was a power vacuum up for grabs, and the upper ring of Ba Sing Se had turned into a constant game of whack-a-mole. Korra didn't know what to do. Republic City was still rebuilding after what Bolin had aptly dubbed the _Day of the Colossus,_ and President Raiko neither could nor would spare the resources for aid. The Northern and Southern Water Tribes had more or less stated it was none of their business, and Fire Lord Izumi similarly refused to get her nation involved with 'unnecessary foreign skirmishes.' On top of that, Kuvira's rift with Zaofu was well-known amongst her supporters, and metal-benders were both feared and hated amongst her non-supporters. The most qualified person for the throne—Suyin—was therefore out of the running unless she wanted an even bigger headache to deal with.

As it was, the Air Nation was the only international power willing and able to bring some semblance of order to the Earth Kingdom/Empire/whatever.

Korra desperately wished her avatar connection wasn't severed. Never before had she so badly yearned to converse with her past lives. Toph had disappeared once again, and Katara had died in her sleep a few months after Lord Zuko's peaceful passing two years ago. There was no one left to connect her to Aang, and she couldn't reach Avatar Wan either. Sure, Tenzin tried his best to guide her, but the Air patriarch seemed equally frazzled these days.

"Asami..." she moaned, flopping down onto their well-worn couch. "…why can't I ever catch a break?"

The Future Industries heiress rubbed her backside sympathetically. It was evening, and Mako, Bolin, and their relatives were all gathered downstairs for dinner—leaving the girls free to converse on their own. That was rather hard to do nowadays when 30+ people lived in the Sato Mansion.

"You got a hard job. Any luck tracking down Baatar Jr. today?"

Korra made a strangled noise in the back of her throat.

"No, the little shit. I thought he changed—we should've never agreed to let him visit Kuvira! She's brainwashed him again, and now he's carrying out_ her_ dirty work with the rebels!"

"Poor Su." Asami murmured.

"You got that right." She snorted. "She's also dealing with a bunch of trade issues at the moment. Zaofu's having a hard time securing enough platinum to rebuild the domes, so she's running all over the place trying to get that extra security back for her city."

"Why does she need the domes again?" Asked Asami, raising an elegantly arched brow. "After what happened—"

"—exactly." Korra interrupted firmly. "It's _because _of what happened. While Zaofu may mostly be made up of civilians, most families have a metalbender or two in their family—and as you know, metalbenders aren't too well-received these days. They're just kinda scared of the outside world right now. I don't blame them. Someone sent a spirit bomb threat to the Beifong estate just last week!"

Asami sighed, purple-lidded eyes dropping to the ornately carpeted floor.

"Sometimes…" she said softly. "Sometimes I wonder when it'll finally end."

"To quote Toph," Korra said sarcastically. _"'The names change but the street stays the same.'"_

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**[14.]**

Naruto opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"Wh-what did you say?!" He demanded. "Actually, forget that! Who are you, dattebayo?!"

The redheaded man rolled his eyes.

"Who do you think I am, monkey? They couldn't have chosen a dumber vessel to house me in."

"Vessel…?" Naruto said slowly. Then, the obvious dawned on him. "…YOU'RE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!" he screamed accusingly.

Kyuubi smacked the trembling finger that had been pointed at him away in annoyance, baring his canines again.

"Watch it monkey, or else I'll break that stinking paw of yours. And don't fucking shout again."

Naruto reddened.

"I am _not _a monkey! I have a name!"

"So do I." Kyuubi muttered. "But it's not like you call me by mine either."

The Uzumaki recoiled as if struck; the thought had never even occurred to him.

"You…have one too?" He asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do." He answered haughtily.

"What is it?"

The fox demon looked down on the small, bewildered child chained to his wrist and narrowed his eyes. The blond-headed brat reminded far too much of the man who had sealed him in him, but there was no choice...

"I'll tell you," he warned, "but only because we have to work together to get out of here alive. It's Kurama."

"_Kurama."_ Naruto let the name roll off his tongue. Kurama. Kurama was the demonic entity sealed inside him. Kurama was the deadly nine-tailed-fox_. _Kurama…

The genin looked up at the very humanoid figure next to him.

…_Kurama_ was not as furry as he remembered.

"Kurama. I can't say it's nice to meet a jerk like you, dattebayo, but my name's Naruto."

"I know."

"Why are you…I mean why do you look…?"

"Human?" Kurama asked disgustedly.

The demon made a move to sit down, and Naruto soon followed. It wasn't as if the genin knew what he was doing anymore, and since his tenant actually seemed to know what was going on, it was worth it to settle down and listen.

"Something's wrong with you." Kurama said plainly, sharp eyes shifting from red to orange to gold. "And it's affecting me too. I can feel a foreign energy blocking our chakra. I don't know what triggered it, but it's reduced me to this form, and it's also what's giving you the power to chuck rocks so easily."

"Chuck rocks? I only did that once." Naruto thought back to the wall of earth he had summoned in his last fight. "I thought—I thought that maybe it was a Kekkei Genkai. I never knew my parents, so…"

"Trust me, it's not. When you wake up, I doubt that you'll be able to use any chakra at all. But you'll probably be able to manipulate earth."

"WHAT!" Naruto shouted. "THAT'S—"

Kurama clapped a clawed hand over his mouth, looking murderous.

"Keep your fucking voice down." He hissed. "Do you want Koh to slither out and devour us right now?! Once is enough, twice is pushing it!"

Naruto wrestled the hand away from his face.

"Who is Koh?!" he demanded, voice lowered accordingly.

"Koh is the ancient spirit who resides here. He steals faces."

Watching his jailer blanch quickly, Kurama fought the urge to forfeit his own face on the spot.

"Faces like _that."_ He gritted. "If he sees you express emotion around him, he'll eat it."

"Well why can't we just fight him off?!"

"Can you fight totally expressionless?" Kurama asked seriously. "Koh isn't a mere shinobi, brat. He isn't even a demon. He's a spirit, and he has powers neither of us can fully understand. This is his realm. This is how it works."

"Well why can't we just get out of here?!" Naruto asked with rising alarm. "If we can't beat him—"

"—because _you_ led us here." Kurama answered. "We're in the spirit world. Do you know the way out?"

"What?" He exclaimed. "No, of course not!"

"Then this is some stupid psychological thing. I don't know either, so unless you and I want to be stuck here forever, then our only choice is to ask the only other being here."

Naruto clenched his fists. He knew he was probably in way over his head, but he had to get out of this place ASAP. Sasuke and Sakura were waiting. Kakashi-sensei would be so disappointed in him if he failed, never mind Iruka-sensei…

"Fine." He said resolutely. "We can do it. I know we can."

"I know_ I_ can." Kurama muttered.

Naruto glared.

* * *

><p>—<p>

**[15.]**

This was bad, real bad.

Gaara was playing with them. That was the only reason why Sakura had been able to drag her feet away with Naruto hoisted haphazardly on her back, and why Sasuke himself was still even standing.

The sand clone lunged at him again, and Sasuke dodged quickly, taking a swipe at the thing with his kunai before repositioning himself beyond its immediate reach. He fingered his pocket for a second kunai while keeping a steady gaze fixed on his opponent.

Sasuke couldn't use his chakra. At all. This devastating realization had come earlier when he had tried to go on offense. His mind whirled. He didn't know what to do.

But he wasn't going to run.

Sasuke had already expected to die before—when Team 7 had battled against Orochimaru—and he was fully prepared to do so again if it meant buying time for Sakura and Naruto to escape.

At the steely expression that developed on Sasuke's face, Gaara saw another beginning to overlap him. Instead of a 12-year-old boy dressed in blue, he saw the flickering visage of a 16-year-old boy dressed in foreign green robes, with a furious scar etched on the left side of his face.

"You'll have to defend yourself." Gaara found himself saying. "Then everyone will know. Go ahead. Show me what you can do."

"You want a show? I'll give you a show!" Sasuke snarled, without thinking. Unconsciously, he raised his kunai before him as if they were twin swords.

Then Gaara's sand clone shot towards him, and Sasuke twirled around the attack with a strange agility he didn't know he possessed, making sure to slash at the figure before evading. The clone, of course, regenerated quickly, and Sasuke gave one more futile, vicious attack with his weapons.

The clone's head lobbed off. As it recovered, Sasuke made a dive for the real Gaara, only to be slapped away with a thick tendril of sand that fired out of the redhead's gourd. He tumbled a several feet away from his target; one of his kunai lost in the fall.

"You must be getting tired of using those kunai." Gaara sneered, his usually monotone voice turning uncharacteristically spiteful and taunting. "Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?"

'…_Firebend?'_ Both boys thought vaguely, as soon as the Suna nin's words tumbled out.

Never the less, the battle didn't stop. Sasuke made a few more unsuccessful attempts at attacking the real Gaara, only to be smacked away like a rag doll each time. Large, black-and-blue bruises were beginning to cover his porcelain-pale skin completely. Gaara felt both satisfied and enraged at the sight.

Naruto long forgotten, Gaara glared at the Uchiha before gathering the bulk of his sand, then burying Sasuke under it. With only his head free, the Konoha nin screamed furiously.

"Bet you wish you could help yourself out with a little fire blast now!" He taunted again.

"You're the one who needs help!" Sasuke yelled.

Déjà vu rapidly overwhelmed both boys. Too bad their past situation was just as tense as their current.

* * *

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**[16.]**

Haruno Sakura listened to the faint resonance of battle from afar, tears dribbling messily down her face. Gaara and Sasuke were yelling at one another, and from the sound of things, Sasuke was most likely losing. Sakura had no illusions about the Sand nin's strength. She knew that she would be killed point-blank if she returned to help—then Naruto would be left vulnerable, and Sasuke's sacrifice would have been all for nothing. But if Naruto were awake, if Naruto were awake…

Sakura bit back a sob and buried her face into his chest. All she ever seemed to do as cry. When would she ever be good enough to protect them?

"Naruto, please wake up." She begged. "Please wake up, _please,_ Sasuke's in trouble…"

* * *

><p>—<p>

**[17.]**

With two days left to kill, Team 8 relaxed together in a waiting room of the exam tower. Tenten was draped over the couch, Neji was sitting on one of the armrests untangling her ninja wire, and Lee was on the floor playing with his new pet.

"Lee," said Tenten. "When are you, uh, gonna put that squirrel back?"

Lee gasped as if she just confessed she killed puppies for fun. Aware that the 'Green Beast' was the one who had saved it from the Sound nin, the squirrel chattered happily as Lee hugged it closer to his own body.

"Tenten_, never!_ This furry creature has become a most youthful companion! I have even named him—from this day onward, he is an official member of Team 8!"

"'_Member' _is pushing it." Neji said flatly, finally succeeding in undoing a knot. "Mascot, maybe."

"Well, what's its name then?" Tenten asked curiously. She nodded her head in thanks as the Hyuuga handed her the first set of clean wire.

"Bosco." Lee answered affectionately.

The squirrel nibbled delicately on his finger. Neji rolled his eyes, and Tenten giggled.

* * *

><p>—<p>

**[18.]**

"Here it is." Kurama said grimly.

Naruto stared at the dark abyss leading into Koh's domain. A skinny baboon flitted across the base of the tree, and when it turned his head, a blank slate greeted him. He recoiled in alarm.

"That's what will happen to you," Kurama continued "If you show any type of emotion in Koh's presence. The only thing you can do is talk and blink, and you better make it as monotone as possible."

The jinchuuriki took a deep breath.

"I'm ready."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm ready as I'll ever be."

"Alright." Said the fox. "Let's go. Try not to get us killed, brat."

"Bastard." He replied, before schooling his scowl into a neutral expression.

"Remember." Said the demon. "Show no fear. Show no emotion at all."

Kurama and Naruto stepped into the wooden cavern. They headed down the shadowed stairway, heeding the eerie sound of crawling legs and knocking scales above them. Before long, an enormous centipede with a gleeful Noh mask positioned at its head dropped down. It curled the segments of its body around them languidly.

"Welcome, my old friend Kurama… it's been a long time. How may I help you?"

"You two know each other?" Naruto asked, his voice carefully empty.

"How could I forget?" Koh exclaimed in delight. "The young fox demon who once wandered in here with the Sage of Six Paths… but what's this? Why have you taken on a human form?"

Kurama blinked slowly.

"Something is blocking my chakra. _Our _chakra," he emphasized, pulling the chain linking him to his little blond jailer. "Keeping my original form is out of the question."

Koh paused, then abruptly switched his Noh mask out for the features of a diseased old man's. His voice was tinny and whimsical. Naruto fought the urge to wince.

"Not some_thing_," Koh replied. "Some_one_."

"Who?" asked Naruto.

Koh turned his attention to the orange-clad genin.

"Ah, it's been a long time since I've added child's face to my collection…" A fanged cobalt Tengu replaced the old man. "…_or_ demon. But I digress. You two don't know?"

"No, we don't." Kurama said smoothly.

Koh laughed, and the sound was malicious.

"The spirit of a king." He answered. "From the other side."

"Other side?" they asked simultaneously.

"You didn't think your world was the only one did you? Surely at least _you_ can't be that ignorant, Kurama."

The fox demon didn't answer.

Koh's body coiled closer around them. Naruto's hand twitched towards his weapons pouch, gazing at the spirit's glistening black scales.

"Why are you two here? As I remember, you weren't too fond of my humble abode even then, fox." The Tengu's face receded, and long brown hair erupted in its place before a pretty young woman's head surfaced. Her lips curled up mockingly. "I doubt you'd willingly pay me a visit again."

Swap the brown locks out for pink, the chocolate eyes out for emerald, and the tan skin out for something paler, and the new face could have easily belonged to an older Sakura. Naruto swallowed. Disgust was evident in his stiffening posture.

Koh took notice, sliding up to Naruto immediately.

"Oh? Does this face resemble someone you know…?"

Naruto didn't answer. Kurama stepped in between them.

"I'd be lying if I said I would." Said the demon. "Actually, I dragged my little human here because we're lost. We need to return to the physical world, and we don't know how."

"I see." Said Koh. "For that, you'll need a guide, and I feel a presence outside this tree that's taken a liking to this child."

"A presence?" Naruto murmured.

"Yes." Koh said lightly. "A presence. He's been waiting for you… I can _feel_ the emotion from here."

Kurama bowed, tugging the chain to signal for Naruto to do the same.

"Thank you." He said. "Naruto?"

"Thank you." Naruto repeated dutifully.

"We'll be taking our leave now."

"Do visit again." Sang Koh, making a move to uncoil.

"—_wait."_ Said Naruto.

The centipede paused.

The genin could feel both set of eyes upon him, but he was only looking into Koh's.

Koh's female visage had given him an idea. While Kurama had been talking, Naruto had been envisioning multiple faces upon the spirit's head, but the only one he wanted stolen was… Orochimaru's.

Naruto summoned up every last vestige of bravery in his being before he continued:

"You've got competition, dattebayo. There's a man, woman, _whatever _after me, and he or she steals faces too."

"Is that so?" Koh asked curiously.

Spirit and jinchuuriki were practically nose-to-nose now. Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets, shoving down his bubbling fear in the process.

"Yeah. I'm not strong enough to take him on my own yet, and Kurama can't help now that that king or whatever is blocking our chakra, dattebayo. I can't predict when the bastard will attack again. So… so help me." He requested firmly.

The dark cavern filled with metallic, wicked laughter. Though his expression was neutral, Kurama had visibly paled beside him. Naruto began to wonder if he'd made the mistake of his life.

"You wish for my aid? Well, well… I've never been propositioned for anything other than the return of a loved one before. And what would I get in return?"

"A new face. And a taste of the physical world."

Koh smiled.

"And how would this happen?"

"Shinobi make contracts all the time. Kakashi-sensei has a contract with nin-dogs, and Maito Guy has a contract with a giant tortoise."

"This interests me…" drawled Koh. "Bring the contract here!"

"I have to write one up."

"You don't know how." Kurama interrupted, tugging urgently at the chain again.

"That's where you come in." Answered Naruto. "I mean, you're like a million years old, dattebayo, you know how to write one, _right?"_

Kurama looked straight into his vessel's eyes, then at Koh's beastly, smirking countenance. No. No way. He turned on his heels, quickly grabbing Naruto's wrist and pulling him under his arm, making sure his flowing sleeves covered the boy's surprised face completely. The spirit's body uncoiled as they quickly made their way up the dark staircase.

"The knowledge escapes me at the moment," he called tersely. "We'll be back!"

"It's a date." Koh's voice echoed easily. _"See you soon, Naruto."_

* * *

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**[19.]**

Shikamaru's shuriken hit the mark again, and the last Cloud genin's neck tore open. She fell to her knees with a bloody gurgle, and the Naara heir quickly put her out of her misery with a kunai thrown straight at her heart.

Ino tiptoed cautiously over to the body, then grimaced before dropping down to rummage through her possessions for the scroll they needed. Choji deflated his _Baika no Jutsu_ and trotted over to his teammate with awed expression.

"Shika," he said. "That was amazing! You took down the whole team all by yourself just with weapons—we didn't even have to go into formation!"

Their blonde teammate raised their new Earth scroll with a triumphant cry.

"AHHH, YES! Here it is! Shika, you're awesome! I'd totally date you if you weren't such a slacker!"

"Who says I'd accept?" Shikamaru muttered, ignoring Ino's subsequent glare. "Troublesome. Go clean up or something, you're all bloody now."

"Yeah yeah," she waved. "You need a bath too, don't judge."

"Forget baths!" exclaimed Choji. "When did you get so good at marksmanship? And when did you become so brutal?" The Akimichi gestured over to the dead girl at Ino's feet. "I thought you didn't like fighting girls…"

"I don't." He answered absentmindedly. "But there are only two days left, and we need to pass. Going into formation is a waste of time and energy when the other team is obviously weak enough to take out simply."

"Still…" said Ino, wiping her hands on some spare bandages from her thigh pouch. "Maybe taking them out permanently was overkill."

"Whatever."

"These are your first kills, aren't they?" Choji asked hesitantly. "Are you… okay?"

"I'm fine." Shikamaru grunted. "But if I have to kill another team on our way to the tower, I'm gonna throw up."

* * *

><p>—<p>

**[20.]**

"Are you stupid?!" Kurama hissed, as soon as they emerged from Koh's tree. "You want us to make a contract with _Koh the Face Stealer?!"_

"It's so that I can beat that Orochimaru bastard and protect my teammates, dattebayo!" Naruto snapped defensively.

"You little shit—if you die, I die with you, do you understand that?!"

"I'm not gonna die! You just have to write the contract right so that he can't backstab me!"

"I'm not writing shit!"

"Bastard!"

"Idiot fucking monkey!"

"Motherfu—"

Rapid, lopping footsteps headed towards them, and the human-demon duo stopped bickering and turned towards the source of sound. Slowly, the goat gorilla from Naruto's past vision flounced into view, wagging its thin tail behind it.

(Memories of mornings tripping over a furry mass on the floor, afternoons in the park playing fetch, and evenings before the fireplace at home flooded to him.)

Naruto widened his eyes in realization.

"FLOPSY!" He cried.

The creature gave him a sloppy lick while Kurama looked on in disgust. It whimpered pitifully while circling the genin, and Naruto felt his heart melt.

"I remember you, kind of." He murmured, scratching behind its ears. "Are you the presence Koh talked about? Are you the one who's gonna lead us outta here?"

Flopsy nuzzled his shoulder, then turned its back to them, crouching down to a position easy to latch onto.

"I take that as a yes!" Beamed Naruto. "Kurama, c'mon!"

"Stupid chains." The demon muttered, as Naruto tugged him towards their beast of burden. "Thank fucking Kami I don't have to deal with you once we get out of here."

* * *

><p>—<p>

**[21.]**

Gaara didn't know what came over him—he usually never moved during fights—but seeing as Sasuke was highly incapacitated at the moment, he stepped out from behind his still-intact sand clone and walked over to the bound Uchiha.

Sasuke looked up at him with a murderous glare. Gaara scowled back. The other boy's pale skin and black hair were rousing an unnatural, almost nationalistic hatred in him.

"_Fire Nation."_ He murmured bitterly, unthinking.

These words stirred something in Sasuke as well. His eyes widened upon seeing Gaara's foot coming down.

(Dressed in navy blue robes adorned with a white, patterned collar, a plump old man with balding grey hair embraced him. When they separated, gold eyes gazed at him seriously. The sky above them bled dark crimson.

"You struggled." He said. "You suffered. But you have always followed your own path. You've restored your own honor. And only you can restore the honor of the _Fire Nation_.")

Sasuke screamed as Gaara stomped on him. He ate dirt. Blood flooded his nose—it was probably broken.

("Evil and good are always at war inside you... It is your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side…")

"Why did you jump in to save them… those teammates of yours?"

("My name is _Zuko!_" He cried. "Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, and rightful heir to the throne!")

"Once I'm finished with you," Gaara continued viciously, digging his foot into Sasuke's bleeding head "I'll hunt down the other two next. First the blond one will die, then the girl…"

("You've always thrown everything you could at me!" he cried, tears streaming down his face to the grey, thundering skies. "Well I can take it! And now I can give it back! Come on! Strike me! You've never held back before!")

The mixture of blood and dirt in in his mouth was becoming unbearable. The pressure on his head was increasing. No. No. No. If he didn't get up, Sakura and Naruto were going to die. Gaara was going to hunt them down like animals, and then it would all be over. He didn't have anyone left but them. In the short few months they had spent together, Team 7 was the closest thing he'd had to family since—since—

**_(—ITACHI.)_**

Sasuke felt tears welling up as he thought of _that man._ Then the beginnings of _that day_ vanished, pushed aside by the vision of a crying brunette curled into herself. The cave around her was covered in glowing emerald stalagmites, and a throaty teenaged voice_—His. His?—_echoed gently through it.

("It's okay. I always thought this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, doomed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized that I'm free to determine my own destiny. Even if I'll never be free of my mark…")

He couldn't let Gaara do that.

"Do you want to know why?" Sasuke gritted, voice muffled, as Gaara stopped grinding his foot at last. "Because they...are my precious people."

* * *

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**[22.]**

Naruto's eyes fluttered open. He scrambled frantically to his feet as soon as he heard the words _"Sasuke's in danger"_ slip from Sakura's lips.

* * *

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**A/N:** well, how was it? Tell me what you think ^^


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